The draft seeks to address all forms of violence against women. Keep scrolling to know more.

The Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Gandhi has unveiled a draft of National Policy for Women, 2016, which will replace the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, 2001. The draft has been unveiled for comments and consultation. Apart from the safety issues, the draft also seeks to address the emerging challenges confronting Indian women.

Salient features of the National policy for women empowerment:

To create a society with women working as equal partners in all spheres of life

To develop a framework to ensure equal rights and opportunities for women

To make cyber space a safe place for women and to address "redistribution of gender roles, for reducing unpaid care work, review of personal and customary laws in accordance with the Constitutional provisions and many more."

It also seeks to review the criminalisation of marital rape keeping women's rights in mind

Health and education of women have been kept a priority in the proposed draft

The draft has proposed to "improve access to pre-primary education, enrolment and retention of adolescent girls."

To carry out skill development and provide equal employment opportunities

To prevent trafficking at source, transit and destination areas for effective monitoring of the networks

Operational strategies

To enable safety and security of women with the help of "One Stop Centres, Women Helpline, Mahila Police Volunteers, Reservation of women in police force, Panic buttons in mobiles, Surveillance mechanisms in public places."

To create eco-systems to encourage entrepreneurship amongst women. This has been proposed to be done through podiums like Mahila E-Haat etc